Jimmy's Story
by MildlyInsane
Summary: This is the story of when Hayes first met Jimmy. Please review, if you'd like. I am awful at titles, and hope to change it if I can manage to think of something better.
1. Chapter 1

**_This is my first King Kong fanfiction. I hope you like it. :)_**

**_xxxxxx_**

As Hayes and his crew treked through the jungles of Skull Island, searching for Anne, few of the men spoke. At first many of them had been complaining, but for a while now they had been quite silent. The silence gave him time to think, and he used the time to do just that. This was quite a mess that they had gotten into. The island was dangerous, and while he feared for the safety of the crew of The Venture, he also did not think it right to leave Miss Darrow on the island to die. So some of the men had volunteered to venture out into the depths of the island to save Anne. Hayes was ashamed of some of the men who didn't volunteer, and one young man who did volunteer, he would not allow to accompany them.

Jimmy had volunteered as easily as any of them; Hayes was willing to risk his own life to save the woman whose cheerful attitude and beauty had won over the hearts of the crew, but he was not willing to allow Jimmy to do the same. Hayes cared deeply for the young man, and while walking through the thick jungles thought of the day he had first met him.

* * *

The Venture was heading out into the Atlantic Ocean, from New York. The crew planned to arrive in Central America, where they would load various animals to be brought back to New York to be put into a circus or zoo.

Hayes, making his usual rounds, walked below deck, to inspect the cages, as he always did shortly after the ship started on its voyage. He would check to ensure that the locks on each cage were intact, and that none of the hinges were loose, along with anything else that might pose a potential threat of the animals escaping. He started at the front cages, and slowly worked his way to the back. When he was not yet to the back row of cages, he noticed something slumped in the corner of a cage. Had an animal died in the cage, and the men who unloaded the animals failed to remove it, or even notify them?

Hayes breathed out a stressed sigh and walked back to the cage. As he got closer, he noticed that the form he had seen was that of a young boy. He quickened his pace, ducking through the entrance of the cage, and kneeling down by the unconscious boy. He gently turned him over, and put two fingers on the boy's throat, checking for a pulse, and was quite relieved to find one.

He nervously scanned below deck, searching for anyone else who might be there; there was no one. He looked back down at the boy, and put his hands on his shoulders. Suddenly the boy gasped, and breated in sharply, shrinking away from Hayes.

"Hey," Hayes said, gently, "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?"

The boy looked back at him, trembling, with frightened eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Hayes asked him, looking the boy over in an attempt to answer his own question. The boy had a few visible bruises, but he wore a long sleeved shirt and long pants. Therefore, he could likely have non-visible injuries. Noticing that they boy did not seem to trust him, Hayes knew that he needed to work with him for a minute before trying to take him up on deck.

"Hey," Hayes asked, "What's your name?" he tried to get the boy to talk to him. The boy just looked at him, still shaking, "...I'm Mr. Hayes," he continued, "You can call me Ben if you'd like..."

Hayes sensed that they boy was becoming a bit less tense, "How old are you?" Hayes tried a different question.

"Jimmy," the boy said quietly, "my name is Jimmy."

"Good," Hayes responded, "Can I ask you how you got here? Why you were laying in this cage?"

The boy shook his head.

"Alright," Hayes patiently responded, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

The boy nodded, nervously, rolling up his sleeve, revealing a thin arm that was quite bruised.

Hayes instantly felt angry. A young boy would not have gotten bruises that large and dark my simply falling down or bumping into something. Someone had done this to the boy. By the looks of it, Jimmy's arm was broken.

"Do you think you can walk up on deck with me?" Hayes asked, "So we can fix your arm?"

Jimmy nodded, and stood up, wincing as he did so.

"Can you walk alright?" Hayes asked, noticing that the boy seemed to be in pain when he stood.

"Yeah," Jimmy answered, swaying slightly as he followed Hayes out of the cage.

Hayes walked slowly, so that Jimmy could keep up with him, toward the stairs that led to the deck. He noticed that the boy seemed to be dizzy; Hayes looked into his unfocused eyes, "Are you alright?" he asked him, "Do you need to sit down for a minute?"

"No," Jimmy responded, "I'm okay..." he breathed in a shaky breath and swayed again.

"Are you sure?" Hayes asked, "We can sit down for a minute."

Jimmy looked up into Hayes's eyes, "I think-" he began, "I am okay."

"Alright," Hayes said, starting to walk toward the stairs again.

"Wait!" Jimmy cried out, leaning his back against the wall, "Wait for just a minute," he said, breathing rapidly, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor, still leaning against the wall.

"Are you alright?" Hayes asked him.

Jimmy looked up at him, and then leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Jimmy?" Hayes asked, looking at the boy, and placing his hands on his shoulders. The boy had passed out. Hayes gently lifted him, and carried him up the stairs.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_There will be at least one more chapter... maybe a few more... Not too many though... _**

**_Please review this and tell me what you think. :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_If you reviewed my previous chapter, thank you. :) If you didn't... review this one..._**

**_xxxxxx_**

Hayes had brought Jimmy up the stairs, and taken him to his own cabin, as there were no unoccupied cabins available. He laid the boy on the narrow bed, and walked out to find Engelhorn, who was skilled in treating various injuries.

"Hayes!" he heard Engelhorn's voice call, "The cages are all alright?" he questioned.

"Engelhorn, you need to come with me," Hayes began, "I found a boy below deck, in one of the back cages; I think his arm is broken. I need you to have a look at him."

Engelhorn's expression was a mixture of surprise, worry, and confusion. "Did you ask him what he is doing here?" he asked, as he walked with Hayes toward the first mate's cabin.

"He wouldn't really tell me much," Hayes answered, "All I found out was his name, Jimmy, and that his arm is injured."

Hayes opened the door to his cabin, and he and Engelhorn walked into the room. Jimmy was still unconcious. "It's his right arm," Hayes said, looking at Engelhorn.

Engelhorn looked very uneasy. "Should you wake him up before I look at him?" he asked Hayes.

"I guess I could try to," Hayes responded, walking over to the bed, and gently shaking Jimmy's shoulder. The boy moaned, and open his eyes, looking at Hayes, and then at Engelhorn. He looked frightened, and began to cower away toward the corner of the bed furthest from the captain and first mate of the ship.

"Hey," Hayes said, trying to assure Jimmy that everything was alright, "This is my friend. He is the captain of this ship, and he knows how to fix your arm, okay? Will you let him see where you are hurt?"

For a moment it seemed as though Jimmy was not going to allow Engelhorn to look at his arm. However, after a moment of silence, he looked down at his own arm, and then up into Engelhorn's eyes, silently giving him permission to approach him. Engelhorn walked up and examined the boy's arm.

"Your arm is broken," Engelhorn told Jimmy, though he figured the boy already knew this, "It is broken in two separate places," he continued.

Jimmy's eyes were wide, and he looked up at Hayes and then at Engelhorn, "What are you going to do?" he asked, worry in his voice.

"Well," Engelhorn responded, "We are going to fix it; it will hurt when I realign the bone, but afterward, it will heal back to normal, and your arm will be fine."

"Okay," Jimmy said.

"Are you ready then?" Engelhorn asked.

Jimmy inhaled shakily, and then exhaled, and reached for Hayes's hand. Hayes, not knowing what else he should do, held the boy's hand as Jimmy closed his eyes and answered Engelhorn, "Okay," he said, "I'm ready."

He winced, and grasped Hayes's hand tighter each of the two times that Engelhorn realigned the bones in his arm. He tried to ignore the sharp pains, but still allowed a tear to roll down his cheek. Engelhorn made a splint for his arm, and wrapped his arm in bandages, with the splint in place.

The pain was decreasing, and Jimmy opened his eyes.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Engelhorn asked him.

Jimmy shook his head to signify that he was not hurt anywhere besides his arm.

"Alright," Engelhorn said, "I will come and check on you later," he said as he exited the room.

Hayes stayed with Jimmy. He noticed that Jimmy seemed to be a bit frightened of Engelhorn.

"Engelhorn," Hayes began, "is not a bad guy,"

Jimmy looked up at him, not saying anything.

"He just doesn't know what to say to you," Hayes continued, "he might seem kind of intimidating sometimes, but you don't need to be afraid of him."

"I'm not," Jimmy said, with a tint of anger in his voice, "I aint afraid of anything."

"Alright," Hayes said, nearly laughing at how quickly the boy had changed from cowering in a corner to flat out telling him that he was not scared of anything.

"So you are sure you aren't hurt anywhere else?" Hayes asked again.

"I'm fine," Jimmy persisted. Hayes worried about the boy. It seemed as though he did not want to be seen as weak or frightened, therefore, he could likely be injured and not want to mention it.

Hayes sighed, "If you are hurt, you need to tell me, alright?" Hayes continued, "I want what is best for you."

Jimmy narrowed his eyes, "I said I'm fine," he said, "just some bruises and scratches."

"Alright," Hayes said, "I'll let you stay here and rest for a while; if you need anything at all, just yell, okay? I'll be near-by."

Jimmy laid back on the bed, and Hayes noticed that he winced as he did so, as though his stomach hurt. Hayes figured that the boy may have been injured more than he had told him, but he knew that the boy was not willing to admit this. He decided to wait until the boy was asleep, and then maybe have Engelhorn look into the possibility of him being hurt.

He walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind him. He did not know for sure what to think about this boy. After the boy had time to rest, Hayes would try to unravel the mystery about him. Until then, however, he would just have to wonder what the answers to his questions were.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_I think I will be writing another chapter. Please review my story, because it makes me more excited about writing it. :) If no one reviews it, my mood about writing more of it goes a bit negative..._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Before I start, I like to always thank my reviewers, and since I only have one, I can thank him or her by name. :) ... otterwarrior16, thank you for your kind reviews. :) I hope you and anyone else reading enjoys this next chapter. :)_**

**_xxxxxx_**

Hayes had just been sitting on a bench on the ship near his cabin where Jimmy had been placed. There was really no work to do on the ship, and he wanted to make sure Jimmy didn't try to leave the room. He didn't know the boy very well at all, but he did, however, know enough about him to know that he was constantly nervous, and was likely to make poor decisions regarding his own health.

He simply sat on the bench, stairing out at the sea before him, thinking. _What were they going to do with this kid?_ He wondered, _Just drop him off in New York when they returned? Had he run away from home? Did he have parents who were looking for him? Had his parents abused him, and that is why he ran away in the first place? Maybe he had no parents, and had gotten beaten up in the streets..._Hayes didn't know what happened to the boy or why he had chosen to sneak onto The Venture. He certainly did not know what they were going to do with him. When the boy woke up, he would have to get some of his questions answered.

As Hayes continued to sit on the bench and ponder, Engelhorn approched him, sitting down beside him, "Did you talk to him any more after I left?" he asked.

"He didn't tell me anything more," Hayes began, "About what happened to him or why he decided to come aboard. But when he wakes up again I'm going to try to get some answers from him."

"Have you checked in on him again?" Engelhorn asked, "It has been four hours."

"No," Hayes answered, "He hasn't left the cabin though; I've been sitting here the whole time."

"Aye," Engelhorn responded, "I'm going to go check on him then."

"I'll come with you," Hayes said, as he was curious to see if the boy had awaken yet. They got up and went to the cabin. Engelhorn opened the door slowly, so as to not wake Jimmy up if he had in fact still been asleep. Sure enough he was still sleeping, with his injured arm against his chest, and his other arm wrapped around his abdomen. Though asleep, Jimmy had an expression of worry on his face.

Hayes thought that now would be a good time to check to see if Jimmy had any broken ribs, as he had seemed to be in pain earlier, and his stomach, Hayes suspected, was the source of said pain.

"I think his ribs might be hurt," Hayes said to Engelhorn, "He was acting like he was in pain when he moved earlier, but I don't think he wanted to tell me."

"Well," Engelhorn suggested, "Now would be a good time to check; I am not checking. That kid is like a wild animal, and I wouldn't risk having my fingers bitten off."

Hayes looked at him. That was an odd joke, if it was meant to be a joke at all. Of course Engelhorn said strange things sometimes, which Hayes never understood.

Hayes quietly walked up to the bed and knelt down, carefully lifting Jimmy's shirt. He winced at the sight he saw, and heard Engelhorn do the same. He wasn't sure if any of Jimmy's ribs were broken, but he definitely had some rather nasty bruises. Furthermore, the boy was quite thin. He probably hadn't eaten much in quite a while.

Apparently Jimmy had a habit of waking up at the most inconvenient times possible, because just as Hayes peered at his bruised abdomen, Jimmy stirred, and immediately began to panic. He gasped, and backed away from Hayes, pulling his shirt back over his bruises. Hayes noticed that Jimmy was trembling again, just as he had been below deck; he needed to assure the boy that they were just trying to help him.

Hayes placed his hands gently but firmly on Jimmy's narrow shoulders. "Jimmy," Hayes began, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I noticed that your ribs are bruised pretty badly though. Will you let me check to see if they are broken?"

Jimmy continued to tremble, and tried to pull away from Hayes.

"Come on, Jimmy," Hayes re-assured him, "We don't want to hurt you, alright? We just want to make sure your ribs aren't broken."

Jimmy looked over Hayes's shoulder, at Engelhorn, who turned and walked out of the room, not wanting to experience any further awkwardness. Jimmy then looked back into Hayes's eyes. He stopped struggling to get away from Hayes, and nodded, indicating that he would allow Hayes to check his ribs.

"Alright," Hayes said, relieved that Jimmy gave in, "now, this might hurt a little, okay? I'm going to press on your ribs, just a little, to make sure they are all still intact, where they should be, okay?"

Jimmy's eyes where enormous, and he looked extremely frightened. He exhaled a shaking breath and nodded his head, "Okay," he said in a quiet voice. He laid back on the bed, and let Hayes examine his ribs, attempting to keep from wincing as the man gently pressed on each of his ribs.

Hayes imagined, prior to examining Jimmy's ribs, that it would be incredibly awkward, as the boy would most likely not want a strange man to see his bare chest and stomach. However, it was not awkward at all. Hayes felt that he was beginning to feel very protective over this boy.

"Well," Hayes said to Jimmy, "It doesn't look like your ribs are broken. They are very bruised, but that should heal, and you will be fine."

Jimmy forced himself to smile.

"Jimmy," Hayes said, looking directly into the boy's eyes, "Will you tell me what happened to you?"

Jimmy looked down, away from Hayes's eyes.

"Hey," Hayes said, "It's alright. If someone hurt you, they can get in trouble for it, okay? You can tell me who did this. They won't hurt you again; I won't let them."

Jimmy simply shook his head.

"Okay then," Hayes said, "I won't try to force you to tell me, alright? But trust me when I say this: you are safe here, on this ship. I don't know what happened to you, but as long as you are here, it won't happen again."

Jimmy still did not look back up at Hayes.

"I'll let you go back to sleep, alright?" Hayes said, standing and walking toward the door.

"Wait," Jimmy said, looking up at him.

"What's wrong?" Hayes asked, walking back over to him.

"Nothing is wrong," Jimmy answered, "I just was wondering, if you'd stay for a while longer."

Hayes smiled. The boy was beginning to trust him. "Of course I'll stay," he replied. He sat down on the edge of the bed as Jimmy started to talk.

"Can I stay here on the ship?" he asked.

"Of course you can," Hayes responded, "You can stay here as long as you'd like."

Hayes could tell that Jimmy was beginning to fall asleep, "even... forever?" he asked, spacing his words as sleep slowly took him.

"Yes," Hayes answered, "you can stay as long as you'd like... even forever."

"Okay..." Jimmy softly whispered, "good..."

Hayes didn't know what to think. He needed still to find out if Jimmy had a family somewhere... The boy could not be older than 12, and if he had a family looking for him, Hayes would need to send Jimmy back to them. Which, again, raised the question of who had hurt the boy so badly. If it was whomever he had been living with, Hayes would not send him back there.

Hayes looked back at the boy, who was breathing more slowly than he had been earlier, and was obviously asleep. Hayes didn't have anything else he needed to do, so he decided to stay near Jimmy for the time being. If Engelhorn needed him, he'd know where to look.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_Note: I am not sure if that is how someone would check to see if someone's ribs were broken, so I just guessed... It seems pretty logical to me anyway..._**

**_Another Note: I absolutely adore scenes where someone falls asleep in the presence of someone who they trust. To fall asleep in a room with only you and another person there shows that you trust them... I think so anyway... You might notice that I write such scenes probably more than I should... but they are too sweet for me not to write them..._**

**_I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review it, whether you liked it or not. Your compliments or criticisms will help me know how I should go about writing... I am writing for my readers... I want you to enjoy what I have written, and if you don't, I'd like to know how I can fix it, so please let me know what you think of my writing. :)_**

**_Furthermore, I anticipate writing either 1 or 2 more chapters... So stay tuned. :) _**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Here we go. Thank you, my only reviewer, for consistantly reviewing each of my chapters. I appreciate your reviews. _**

**_Here goes, everyone. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. _**

**_xxxxxx_**

Hayes stayed in the room with Jimmy for roughly 2 hours. He might be waking up soon, and since the boy was so thin, Hayes thought he might want to try to eat something when he woke, as he was probably hungry from not having eaten very well in quite some time. Hayes made his way to the ship's kitchen to look for something suitable.

The cook who worked on the ship, a cook who was really not much of a cook at all, but was mostly helpful in other aspects about the ship, was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, with a knife, carving a potato to depict a face. The cook, whom the crew called "Lumpy" due to his humourously poor cooking skills, looked up at Hayes.

"Dinner's not for another few hours," he said plainly.

"I know," Hayes replied, "Did Engelhorn tell you about the boy who was stowed away in one of the cages?"

"Eh, No..." Lumpy responded, "Where'd he come from?"

"He wouldn't tell us," Hayes answered, "But it looks as though he hasn't eaten in a while, so I came down here to see if there was anything that I could give him, maybe bread or an apple..."

"Hows about some porriage?" Lumpy asked, gesturing toward a pot of a disgusting-looking white mixture.

"I don't think so," Hayes answered, "I think he needs to stick to something simple. As I said, he looks like he hasn't eaten in a while. I don't want him getting sick. You don't have any apples or anything?"

"Eh, hold on," the cook said, standing up, "I might have a little somethin over 'ere. I had some crackers in this cabinet," he continued, opening the cabinet, and rummaging through it's contents. Eventually he pulled out a box of crackers. "This good enough?"

"These will do fine," Hayes answered, taking the crackers from Lumpy, "Thank you."

"See ya around, Hayes," Lumpy said as Hayes started to leave the kitchen, "And hey, I wanna meet that kid some time, huh?"

"Sure," Hayes said, "When he is feeling better, I'll bring him down."

"Alright, see ya," Lumpy said, and Hayes walked out of the kitchen.

He walked back up to his cabin where Jimmy slept. This time Hayes decided to knock before opening the door. He knocked lightly, so as not to wake Jimmy up if the boy was still asleep. Apparently he still slept, as no reply came when he knocked.

Hayes opened the door slowly but it still made a slight creaking noise. The noise woke Jimmy, and he sat up in the bed.

"Hey," Hayes greeted him, "I brought you some crackers, if you are hungry."

"I don't know," Jimmy said, "I don't think I'm hungry."

"Well," Hayes began, "When is the last time you've eaten? If you haven't eaten in a while, you might not feel hungry, but you might want to try to eat a little bit anyway. When you don't eat for a while, your body stops feeling hungry, but you still need to eat. Just a few crackers, alright? If you don't start eating, it will be more difficult for you to feel better."

Jimmy narrowed his eyes, "I really don't feel like it right now," he argued, "I just want to go back to sleep."

"Why don't you just eat a few crackers and then go back to sleep, okay?" Hayes persisted. He knew how difficult it could be to make yourself start eating after going so long without food, but he also knew that Jimmy needed to do it, to get himself back into a regular habit of eating properly, "Just eat two. It isn't very much at all, and I think you'll start feeling hungry again if you just eat a little bit, okay?"

"I'm too tired," Jimmy said, and Hayes noticed that the boy did look completely exhausted.

"I think part of the reason you are tired is because you haven't eaten in a while..." Hayes began, "but I'll let you go back to sleep. In a few hours though, I'm going to come back and check on you, and I think you should eat something. I can get you something else."

"That's okay," Jimmy said, "I'm just not hungry."

Hayes sighed, "Alright," he gave in, "I'll be back later," he turned and left the cabin, leaving the box of crackers on a table by the bed.

Hayes was almost angry with the boy. He wanted him to get better, but couldn't force him to eat. He walked over to where Engelhorn stood, looking out into the sea. Neither of them spoke for a moment, but then Engelhorn looked at Hayes.

"What do you plan on doing with that stow away?" Engelhorn asked, meaning Jimmy, of course.

"What do you mean?" Hayes asked, "I think we should let him stay with us until he gets better, and then see if he wants to go back to New York."

"See if he _wants _to go back to New York?" Engelhorn questioned, "And what if he doesn't? Hmm? We just let him stay here forever? He is just a kid. We cannot have kids on this ship!"

"Why not? I'll watch after him," Hayes replied, "Keep him out of trouble. We can let him help out with small tasks."

Engelhorn sighed, "We will see," he said, looking directly at Hayes, "I am not going to guarantee that I will have him staying on my ship."

"You saw him, Engelhorn," Hayes said quietly, "You saw his arm, and the horrible bruises on his chest... I don't think he is going to want to go back to wherever he came from. And what are we supposed to do with him then? Just drop him off somewhere? He is just a kid, like you said."

Engelhorn's eyes showed what he felt, a mixture of anger and dread. Hayes knew what the captain was thinking. He was thinking that he didn't want the boy on his ship; he didn't want to be responsible for the well-being of someone so young. He also was thinking that he did not want to send the boy back to whomever had beat him up so badly, and certainly did not want to send him off to the streets of New York all alone.

"We will discuss this later," Engelhorn finally said, "When the topic arises again... I do not know what we should do..." he said, walking away toward his cabin, "It is getting late, Mister Hayes; you might think of getting some rest."

Hayes was quite tired, but his cabin was currently occupied by Jimmy. He decided to go check on the boy again. He knocked on the door, and this time Jimmy answered.

"Yeah?" he heard Jimmy's voice, in a very simple way of asking who was there and what did they want, with only one word.

"Hey," Hayes said through the closed door, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Jimmy responded.

Hayes opened the door to see Jimmy sitting up in the bed with the box of crackers opened beside him. He held half of a cracker in his uninjured hand, and looked slightly less ill than previously.

"You feeling better?" Hayes asked him.

"Yeah," Jimmy answered, "A little bit."

"Good," Hayes said.

"I've been in this room all day," Jimmy said, "I want to walk around on the deck."

"Are you sure you feel well enough?" Hayes asked, "If you think you feel well enough, I can show you around."

"I feel fine," Jimmy said. Hayes wondered if the boy was lying, but decided to let him have a look around the ship, and just keep a close watch over him.

"Alright," Hayes said, walking out into the hall. Jimmy followed him. They walked out of the hall where all of the cabins were, and up on deck, where they could see that the sun was setting.

"There really isn't much to it..." Hayes began, "There's cabins down there, where we came from, and it's pretty much just like any other ship."

Jimmy breathed in deeply, "The weather is perfect," he said.

"It is right now," Hayes responded, "Have you spent time on a ship before?"

"No," Jimmy answered.

"Well," Hayes began, "it can get pretty rough out here sometimes, in the rain, and the waves are huge."

Jimmy's eyes widened, but he tried to hide his fear, "I ain't afraid of storms," he said.

"Yeah?" Hayes asked, "Me neither."

Jimmy looked up at him and smiled, and then breathed in deeply again, looking down and closing his eyes, "Can we sit down for a minute?"

"Sure," Hayes said, leading Jimmy over to the bench which over looked the sea, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jimmy said, "I just feel like I might pass out,"

"Do you want to go lay down?" Hayes asked him.

"No," Jimmy said, "I'm fine. I just feel dizzy when I stand up. We can just sit here for a minute."

Hayes looked at Jimmy, quite concerned for him. In the setting sun, the boy looked quite pale, with darkness around his eyes, most likely from poor nutrition and lack of sleep.

Jimmy exhaled, and laid down on the bench, looking up at the sky.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing to the crow's nest of the ship.

"That's called the crow's nest," Hayes answered, noticing that the boy looked up at him, with a look of confusion on his face, "It's where we put someone if we need sort of a look-out. To watch out for land if we are not sure how close we are to a port."

"Oh," Jimmy said, "Can I be the look-out?"

Hayes laughed, "Not right now," he answered, "I don't think you should be climbing up there when you feel like you might pass out."

"I'll be the look out later then," Jimmy declared.

"We'll just see how things work out, alright?" Hayes responded.

"Where is the ship headed?" Jimmy asked.

"We are going to Central America," Hayes answered, "We pick up animals to be brought back and put into circuses or zoos."

Jimmy smiled, and laughed slightly, which made Hayes laugh as well. "Well, we've all got to make a living somehow," Hayes said to him, still smiling.

"Yeah," Jimmy agreed.

They continued to talk about various aspects of the ship, and Hayes answered Jimmy's questions. Into the early morning hours they continued, Jimmy laying on the bench, and Hayes sitting beside him. By the time the sun was rising, both of them were quite asleep, Jimmy still laying on the bench, and Hayes still sitting up, with his head hung forward.

Engelhorn walked past, and saw them; He let out a sigh. He thought about waking them, but decided to leave them alone for the time being. They'd ride a high wave soon enough, and Hayes would probably fall right off of the bench, the way he was sitting...

**_xxxxxx_**

**_It was a bit longer than the previous chapters, and wasn't that exciting... Sorry about that... There will be at least one more chapter though; depending on how the next chapter goes... I might write more than one... How exciting is that? Quite, I'd say..._**

**_So, anyway, drop me a review, if you'd like. :) I'd appreciate it._**


	5. Chapter 5

**_xxxxxx_**

Hayes awoke suddenly as he began to fall forward. He had fallen asleep, sitting up, on the bench beside Jimmy. He looked down to where Jimmy had been laying, but the boy was no longer there. He scanned the deck, hoping to see him nearby, but Jimmy was nowhere in sight. He didn't see Jimmy, but he did see Engelhorn. He stood up and approached the captain.

"Have you seen Jimmy?" Hayes asked him.

"Yes," Engelhorn answered, "I have. He was complaining that he was hungry, so I sent him down to the kitchen."

Hayes nodded slowly, "Alright," he said, and made his way toward the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen, he saw Jimmy standing beside Lumpy. Lumpy was pouring something into a large pot, and Jimmy was watching. Before Jimmy or Lumpy saw him, Hayes heard the last bit of what Lumpy had been saying to Jimmy: "...just to make it seem like more, but without really much of a nutrition value... Oh, hey, Mister Hayes," Lumpy greeted him.

"Hello," Hayes greeted him, "Hello, Jimmy."

"Hi," Jimmy said, smiling, and already looking healthier than the previous day, "Lumpy is teaching me how to cook."

"You know how to cook, Lumpy?" Hayes joked.

"I'm teaching 'im how _I _cook," Lumpy explained, "He says he's going to stay on the ship, and become part of the crew, so I'm teachin 'im a bit about cooking."

"I bet you'll never want to eat again after you see how Lumpy cooks," Hayes said, jokingly, to Jimmy.

Jimmy smiled, and Lumpy gave Hayes a sort of glare.

"Well," Hayes said, "we should reach our destination late tonight or early tomorrow morning. I'm going to go talk with Engelhorn."

Lumpy nodded, and turned back to his work, as Jimmy watched, and listened as the cook began to explain his methods. Hayes listened to the rather humourous lesson Jimmy was receiving as he left the kitchen: "Put a lot of salt in it, so it will actually taste like food, but not too much. Just enough to where you can taste it."

Hayes laughed to himself at the way Lumpy cooked. He walked back up to Engelhorn, and began talking to him.

"The rest of the crew wouldn't mind Jimmy being here with us," Hayes told him, "Lumpy is teaching him how to cook right now."

"I'm sure he'd do better with cooking if Lumpy didn't teach him..." Engelhorn joked.

Hayes continued, "He can just help out with easier tasks until he gets older, and then he could be a valuable member of the crew... You cannot just make him leave. He has nowhere to go."

"I know that, Hayes," Engelhorn said, changing his tone from joking to serious, "I want to say that he is not our problem; he has to deal with his own issues, which do not concern us, but I'm not going to make him go. I will allow him to stay on my ship, but you need to teach him about the ship, and make sure he is careful. I do not want him to be a nuisance, alright?"

Hayes smiled. He knew that the captain was really a kind man. He wanted to seem tough at times, but he really did care about people. "I'll make sure he doesn't cause any trouble," Hayes agreed.

Engelhorn turned away from Hayes, and Hayes walked away toward his own cabin, where there was a bed, which he could use for some much needed rest.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_Sorry this chapter was so short, but I want to change up the next chapter and make it in Jimmy's point of view, most probably his encounter with Lumpy... I think that might be interesting. :) And since I have class at 9am tomorrow, and it is already 2am... I might as well stay up and write the next chapter, right?? :)_**

**_Please review. :)_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_This chapter is Jimmy's point of view, starting nearly when the last chapter started. I guess it isn't really in his point of view... But he is more of the main character perhaps in this chapter... I don't recall the word of this sort of narration... It has been too long... I think I learned it a few years ago in 11th grade maybe??_**

**_xxxxxx_**

Jimmy woke up to see that Hayes was asleep, still sitting upright, beside him. He forced himself to stand, his ribs aching slightly as he did so. Jimmy noticed the man who Hayes had referred to as Engelhorn was watching him from a distance. He walked over to the captain.

"Hello," Engelhorn said, with a hint of uneasiness in his voice.

"Hi," Jimmy said, "Um-"

"How are you feeling?" Engelhorn interrupted him, "How is your arm?"

"It's okay," Jimmy said. Feeling uncomfortable talking about his injuries, he decided to change the subject, "I'm starving. Is there someplace on this ship where I can find something to eat?"

Engelhorn smiled, "You could try the kitchen, right down that hall there," he said, pointing the boy in the direction of the kitchen, "though I am not sure if you will find anything edible there."

Jimmy looked up at the man, obviously confused, "Huh?" he questioned.

"Just go down there and talk to the cook. Address him as 'Lumpy.' That's his name," Engelhorn explained, "You'll understand what I mean soon enough."

"Lumpy?" Jimmy asked, making sure he heard the man right.

"Yeah," Engelhorn replied.

"Okay," Jimmy said, walking in the direction of the kitchen.

He reached the kitchen and slowly opened the door, "Lumpy?" he asked the strange looking man with one eye that seemed stuck in a winking pose.

"Yeah," the man said, turning around from a large pot and looking at Jimmy, "Oh, hey!" he said, "You're that kid Hayes was talking about, huh?"

"I guess so..." Jimmy said, "Engelhorn said that I should come down here-"

"A'right," Lumpy interrupted, "Come on over 'ere. You gonna be part of the crew then?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said, "I guess so; Hayes said I could stay on the ship," he said, smiling.

"Ah," Lumpy said, "great. Ya can help me cook then. It really a'int that complicated at all."

Jimmy walked over and peered into the pot which the cook had previously been standing over.

"What is that?" Jimmy asked, looking back up at the cook.

"Eh," Lumpy began, "Doesn't matter. It's got flour in it, walnuts, some other stuff, I don't know. Doesn't matter. All of the ingredients are edible, so it don't matter."

"Oh," Jimmy said, looking slightly disgusted.

"Well, basically that's all you do to cook then," Lumpy explained, "put some stuff into the pot, and mix it all in there. A lot of four, to take up space, and a lot of this stuff too," he said, holding up a large bag.

"What is it?" Jimmy asked.

"Ya know..." Lumpy bagan, "I don't even know what it is, but I use it just to make it seem like more, but without really much of a nutrition value... Oh, hey, Mister Hayes," he said, turning toward the door as Mr. Hayes opened it.

"Hi," Jimmy greeted him, "Lumpy is teaching me how to cook."

"You know how to cook, Lumpy?" Hayes said, jokingly.

"I'm teaching 'im how _I _cook," Lumpy said to Hayes, "He says he's going to stay on the ship, and become part of the crew, so I'm teachin 'im a bit about cooking."

"I bet you'll never want to eat again after you see how Lumpy cooks," Hayes said to Jimmy.

Jimmy noticed that Lumpy gave Hayes a bit of a glare, but it seemed like he was probably not really angry with him.

"Well," Hayes said, "we should reach our destination late tonight or early tomorrow morning. I'm going to go talk with Engelhorn."

Lumpy nodded, and turned back to his work, as Jimmy watched and listened, while Hayes exited the room.

"Put a lot of salt in it, so it will actually taste like food, but not too much. Just enough to where you can taste it," Lumpy explained to him, "Ya see, salt doesn't cost too much, but it's kind of potent, so you can really make the food have a food-like taste if you just add salt to it."

"So..." Jimmy began, "Is this the only thing you ever cook?"

"Nah," Lumpy said, "I cook whatever's here. I don't got any cook books or nothin. I just cook everything my own way. If the crew don't like it, then they can cook it themselves, huh?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said, "I guess so... So, how do you know when it is done?"

"Whenever it looks hot, or just whenever I get tired of cooking it," Lumpy answered, "I don't think the crew cares much if it is hot or not," he laughed, "I think they try to swallow it as quickly as possible."

Jimmy let out a bit of a laugh, which made Lumpy smile. "Well, I guess this is done enough now," Lumpy said, "I'll leave the heat on though, so it might warm up a little. You want any?"

Jimmy looked nervously at the cook, "Uh-" he hesitated, not wanting to make him angry, but definitely not wanting to eat the grotesque concoction in the large pot.

"Listen," Lumpy said, "ya don't have to pretend to like it. I don't care. I was just askin if you wanted any. If you don't, that's fine."

"Well," Jimmy started, "I think I'll just stick to crackers for now. I've still got some in on the table of the cabin where I was yesterday."

"A'right," Lumpy said, "I'm gonna go have a chat with Engelhorn for a bit. Ya can stay in here if ya want, or whatever, okay?"

"Alright," Jimmy said, "I'll see you later then."

Lumpy left the kitchen, and Jimmy stayed for a minute and then also left. He made his way back toward the cabin where he has slept the previous day. He opened the door, and saw Hayes sleeping in the room. He didn't want the man to wake up, so he closed the door as quietly as he could manage, not bothering to retrieve the crackers he had come to get.

He decided to go sit on the bench where he had fallen asleep earlier, but on his way over to it, he saw out of the corner of his eye, the crows nest. Hayes had told him not to go into the crow's nest. But Hayes was asleep. Engelhorn and Lumpy weren't paying attention to him, and he didn't even see any other crew members. He slowly walked up to the crow's nest and climbed up the ropes to the top.

When he made it to the top, he looked down, feeling slightly dizzy, seeing how high off the deck he was. He sat down in the crow's nest, and looked out at the sea. Then he looked back down at the deck. Somehow it wasn't that hard climbing up the ropes with his broken arm, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to climb back down...

**_xxxxxx_**

**_Ha ha! I doubt if anyone is sitting around waiting for me to post this chapter, but if you were, sorry for the delay. I got distracted and took a shower and walked my dogs in the middle of writing this chapter. :) It is nearly 4:00 am now... I am going to be so tired tomorrow... _**

**_I believe the next chapter will switch back to being more in Hayes' point of viewish... (still, I do not know the correct term)_**

**_Please review. :)_**


	7. Chapter 7

**_This is the final chapter. I hope you like it. And thank you again, otterwarrior16, for your reviews._**

**_xxxxxx_**

After a few hours of sleep, Hayes woke up feeling quite refreshed. He hadn't slept well the previous night, as he stayed up quite late, and ended up falling asleep for a mere few hours, sitting upright on a hard bench out in the night breeze.

We walked out of his cabin and went down to the kitchen to find Jimmy. He opened the door, but only Lumpy was there.

"Where'd Jimmy go?" Hayes asked the cook.

"I dunno," Lumpy responded, "Couldn't of gotten too far, eh? We're on a ship."

Hayes let out a slight laugh, and turned to leave, "Well," he said then to the cook, "If he comes by here, tell him I'm looking for him."

"Will do," Lumpy agreed as Hayes left the kitchen.

He walked all around on deck, as well as below deck, but did not see Jimmy anywhere. He knew the boy had to be somewhere on the ship. They were in the middle of the ocean. But what if he had fallen overboard? Hayes was beginning to get quite worried.

"Jimmy?" he called out, loudly, "Jimmy, where are you?"

"Mister Hayes!" he heard Jimmy's voice. For a moment he did not register where the voice was coming from. He turned around, and scanned the deck, and then turned back around, "Mister Hayes!" Jimmy called again. His voice was coming from above.

Hayes looked up to see the boy was sitting down in the crow's nest.

"What are you doing up there, Jimmy?" Hayes asked with a stern voice, "I specifically told you not to go up there."

Jimmy was clearly nervous by the man's tone, but his voice displayed a hint of defiance. "There was nothing else to do. And besides, you said that I couldn't come up here if I was feeling dizzy, but I'm fine now."

"Well," Hayes began, "I want you to come down now. You need to just take it easy for a few days, alright?"

Jimmy stood and hesitated for a moment.

"Are you going to be able to make it back down here?" Hayes asked.

"Yeah," Jimmy said confidently as he slowly started his way down the ropes, using only one arm, since his other was injured.

Hayes watched him carefully, making his way toward the ropes so if the boy lost his grip Hayes would prevent him from falling very hard onto the deck. Hayes almost expected Jimmy to fall, but to the relief of both of them he evetually made it safely to the bottom of the ropes, and stood on the deck, looking up at Hayes.

"You need to be more careful, Jimmy," Hayes instructed.

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked, "Nothing happened; I'm fine."

"You could have fallen," Hayes explained.

"I wouldn't of fell," Jimmy protested.

Hayes sighed, "You just need to be careful Jimmy. You never know when accidents will happen."

Jimmy looked up at him and didn't say anything more.

"There is a spare cabin down the hall from mine," Hayes said, "It is being used for storage right now, but we can clean it out and it can be yours."

Jimmy smiled, "Okay," he agreed, "Can we clean it out right now?"

"Sure," Hayes responded.

Jimmy followed Hayes down the hall and into the cabin, which was lined with crates.

"We just need to move these crates," Hayes instructed, "into the hall for now, and then I can take them below deck. It shouldn't take long."

Jimmy nodded, signifying that he understood the instructions. He and Hayes moved the crates into the hall. Hayes did about 90 percent of the work; Jimmy could only push the crates that were already on the floor into the hall, as he presently had only one useful arm.

When the room was cleared they saw that, like the other cabins, it had a bed and a dresser. The bed had no sheets or blankets, however.

"We don't have any spare sheets," Hayes said, "but we can pick some up as soon as we reach our next dock, alright? And that should be later today... you can have my sheet for now."

Jimmy smiled, "thank you," he said.

Hayes smiled back at him, "I'll go get it." he said, and went off to his cabin to retrieve the sheet.

He returned a few minutes later with a sheet, a blanket, and a pillow. "I've already slept today, so I won't need these until after we are able to buy some where we are going to dock." he said, handing the things to Jimmy.

They stood in silence for a minute longer, "So..." Jimmy began, "I really do get to stay here then? On the ship?"

"Of course you do," Hayes responded, "and when your arm is all healed, you can be in charge of looking out, in the crows nest, if you'd like."

Jimmy smiled up at him, "I would like that," he agreed.

* * *

Things went well over the next few weeks. Jimmy's health improved, and his arm was healing. He got into a bit of mischief every so often, but not anything so drastic that it made Engelhorn regret allowing him to stay. In fact he was quite a joy to have on the ship. Often-times being on the ship had been a bore, and some of the crew were slightly grumpy, but Jimmy had a way about him that made the crew happy. He joked with them, and many of them really enjoyed being around him. He had a slight problem with stealing things, but Hayes was slowly teaching him that he didn't need to steal to get the things he needed.

There was not a single instance when Hayes wished he had never met the boy. Hayes had never had children of his own, but Jimmy was very much like a son to him, and he constantly felt the need to correct his errors, and protect him from any possible danger. For this precise reason, he couldn't help but feel angry when, after walking through the jungles of Skull Island for a few hours, he noticed that Jimmy had followed them, against his orders.

He wanted to send Jimmy back to the ship, but by this time they were so far inland that it would be more dangerous to send him back alone than to simply allow him to accompany them. He knew in his heart that he would protect Jimmy from any and all dangers within the jungles of Skull Island. If Hayes had to, he would even be willing to die for him.

**_xxxxxx_**

**_I hope you liked it. Please drop me a review. I'd appreciate it. :)_**


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